Archangel
, , , | released = August 14, 2015 | label = Nuclear Blast | recorded = Megawatt Recording Studios, Studio City, CA and Hydeway Studio, Van Nuys, CA | producers = | singles = "We Sold Our Souls to Metal" "Sodomites" "Archangel" | prev_album = Savages | next_album = }} Archangel is the tenth Soulfly album, released in 2015. Background On December 6, 2014 during an interview, Max Cavalera decided to make a new Soulfly album. Cavalera began writing it on January 3, 2015 and soon entered the Megawatt Recording Studios in Studio City, CA to record the songs. All the tracks were finished by early July. Tony Campos leaves the band On May 1, bassist Tony Campos announced via his Facebook page that he was leaving Soulfly to join . However, Campos recorded bass for Archangel prior to the exit and was credited as the bassist for this album. He was replaced by Max Cavalera's son . Release Archangel was released worldwide on August 14, 2015. The standard edition has 10 tracks along with special edition with 13 tracks attached with bonus DVD showing 2014 live performances from Hellfast. The Soulfly album peaked at #130 on the during first week of release, their second lowest peak after 2005's Dark Ages and one of two Soulfly albums that did not reach the top 100. Contents Album artwork Archangel album cover art is the most fancy of any Soulfly album to date, that it shows with wings on his back shaped in Soulfly logo slaying the minions from Hell using the spear truncated with that logo. The cover art was created by Eliran Kantor, who stated that "I've been a fan of Max's music ever since discovering in high school. When my wife and I got married " " was even played at the dance party part of our wedding. Max asked me to do a traditional piece depicting Archangel Michael - and I tried to go beyond the straight-up neo-classical style as that has been perfected centuries ago, so I mixed in Soulfly's own visual world: hence the wings and spear being shaped like the Soulfly tribal icon, the cliff with the ocean view just like on the first record, and the Brazilian flag being the core of it's color scheme." Musical style Archangel is unique for a Soulfly album that it has biblical themes in terms of sound and lyrics. The album utilizes a different vibe than any of their previous albums, but it retains the style of metal since Prophecy that it has thrash metal roots overlaid with and occasional . Due to the uniqueness of its musical style, Max declared that it is "a once in a lifetime album. The album has really crazy sounds and very different dimensions. It's more experimental than the other stuff but it is still heavy as hell and fast." The album has a mixture of influences from Dark Ages, Omen and Enslaved. Album length With the album lasting 36 minutes and 37 seconds, Archangel is the shortest Soulfly album to date. The deluxe edition with three added bonus tracks bumps up to 45 minutes and 14 seconds, which is the shortest album containing bonus tracks. The shortness of this album can be advantageous to some fans, including that they don't get tired of listening to this album as readily, as well as one of the recommended choices for those who don't have a lot of time left of the activity or event. Max Cavalera said that he doesn't keep track of the lengths while developing the record. Songs "We Sold Our Souls to Metal" was the first Archangel song released to the public on June 30, 2015 and the single was released on July 3. This would likely be the most notable track on the album, which would play this song live numerous times as well as appearing in other media such as in movies and TV shows. The song is thrashy right from the beginning and very -esque sounds in the end. The album features the title track "Archangel", with slow atmospheric riffing before Max begins growl when the pace shifts dramatically. "Archangel" is the album's third single, released on August 10, 2015. "Sodomites", the second single released on July 30, 2015, is darker, crunchier, and heavier with featured on vocals. "Live Life Hard!" features shrieking vocals from 's . "Shamash" is a melodic, demonic and symphonic song containing lyrics about spirituality and history. "Bethlehem's Blood", "Titans", and "Deceiver" are influenced by death metal bands, most exclusively by . There are trumpet horns on "Bethlehem's Blood". "Mother of Dragons" features three additional vocalists –– Cavalera's son , stepson , and , who became the second woman to feature in a Soulfly song and the fifth Soulfly song to feature female vocals. The special edition of this album contains three bonus tracks, including cover "You Suffer" and instrumental "Soulfly X". Track listing # "We Sold Our Souls to Metal" – 2:59 # "Archangel" – 4:47 # "Sodomites" – 3:55 # "Ishtar Rising" – 2:45 # "Live Life Hard!" – 3:57 # "Shamash" – 3:48 # "Bethlehem's Blood" – 4:18 # "Titans" – 4:44 # "Deceiver" – 2:44 # "Mother of Dragons" – 2:41 ;Special edition bonus tracks 11. "You Suffer" cover)}} – 0:10 12. "Acosador Nocturno" – 2:45 13. "Soulfly X" – 5:42 ;Bonus DVD: Live at Hellfast 2014 # "Cannibal Holocaust" # "Refuse/Resist" # "Bloodshed" # "Back to the Primitive" # "Seek 'n' Strike" # "Tribe" # "Rise of the Fallen" # "Revengeance" # "Roots Bloody Roots" # "Jumpdafuckup/Eye for an Eye" Reviews Andrew "Schizodeluxe" Massie of The Rock Pit reviewed that the album is "a somewhat diverse record with the death metal inspired tracks, the groove mid-tempo stuff and the thrashier songs mixed in there. Archangel is both streamlined and very aggressive." Metal Injection's Riley Rowe says that "Archangel spreads its wings towards the next and more mystical musical journey. Jason Z of SkullsNBones says that "following the directional change of the band, Archangel is their most diverse and yet the most consistent album to date." Ray Van Horn Jr. of Blabbermouth reviewed that "Archangel is the most daring and freshest Soulfly album since Prophecy, but there's something slightly remiss and somewhat disjointed in this leaner yet embroidered shift toward yet another new order in this band." Tommy Wills of The Monolith reviewed that "Archangel is meticulously orchestrated, efficiently constructed, and flows even more beautifully than Max’s hair." Dave from The Moshville Times says that "while this album doesn’t do anything new that could change how metal develops, it’s a really strong chapter in Soulfly book." Mark Zapata of CrystalRock reviewed that "Archangel is the most concentrated Soulfly album with thirty-six minutes of power, heaviness, and violence." Steve of Metal Blast! reviewed that the album starts out with a bang with expert performance and then energy fizzles out in the second half. Matthijs of Metal Fan reviewed that this is a rock-solid album but it doesn't follow the theme in a way the music plays. The album has a lot of same stuff with no breakdowns, offering no surprises to the fans. Links to review sites * About.com (4/5) * Amps and Green Screens (9.8/10) * Angry Metal Guy (2.5/5) * Blabbermouth (8/10) * CrypticRock (3.5/5) * Dead Rhetoric (8/10) * Eternal Terror (4.5/6) * [http://www.ghostcultmag.com/album-review-soulfly-archangel-nuclear-blast/ Ghost Cult] (7/10) * Heavy Blog Is Heavy (4/5) * HEAVY Magazine * LiveReviewer.com (4.2/5) * Loudwire * [http://www.metalblast.net/music-review/soulfly-archangel/ Metal Blast!] (3/5) * Metal Fan (70/100) * The Metal Forge (7.5/10) * [http://www.metalinjection.net/reviews/album-review-soulfly-archangel Metal Injection] (7/10) * The Metal Observer (5.5/10) * metalonslaughtmagazine (5/5) * Metal Reviews (60/100) * Metal Temple (10/10) * Metal Wani (9.5/10) * The Monolith * The Moshville Times * My Global Mind (9/10) * The Power of Metal.dk (8/10) * The Rock Pit (30/30) * SkullsNBones (5/5) * Ultimate-Guitar.com (7.7/10) * Wall of Sound (9/10) * YouTube (standard: 78/100, deluxe: 81/100) Personnel ;Soulfly *Max Cavalera – vocals, , , on "Soulfly X", bass * – guitar, on "Soulfly X" * – bass, additional vocals on "Acosador Nocturno", acoustic bass on "Soulfly X" * – drums, percussion ;Additional musicians * – additional vocals on "Sodomites" * – additional vocals on "Live Life Hard!" * – additional vocals on "Mother of Dragons" * – additional vocals on "Mother of Dragons" * – additional vocals on "Mother of Dragons" *Roki Cavalera – intro on "You Suffer" *Roman Cacakhanyan – on "Soulfly X" ;Production * – production, recording, mixing, mastering, interludes *Chris Rakestraw – Engineering *Rem Massingill – Assistant engineering *Allen Steelgrave – Assistant engineering ;Artwork *Eliran Kantor – cover art Category:Albums